Independence Period Timeline
Date History and Culture
The Tupac Amaru Rebellion was led by
José Gabriel Condorcanqui, also known as
1780-1783 Túpac Amaru II
French explorer and geographer Charles
Marie de La Condamine (1701-1774) leads
an expedition in South America where he
1735-1744 finds rubber.
Art and Architecture
The accession of King Charles III to the
1759 Spanish throne.
The American Revolution. Colonialists’
discontent with the British Crown
aggravates due to increasing taxations and
lack of political participation. Colonialist
revolt against British officials and royal
1775-1783 army.
The United States independence led by
1776 General George Washington (1732-1799).
Spanish priest and botanist José Celestino
Mutis (1732-1808) leads the Royal
Botanical Expedition to New Granada to
1783-1816 study the flora and fauna of the region.
1785
The Academy of San Carlos in Mexico
is established.
Thomas Jefferson, in collaboration with
others, writes The Declaration of the Rights
1789 of Man and of the Citizen.
The French Revolution. French citizens
revolt as they seek to replace the longstanding institution of the Monarchy with a
1789-1799 legislative assembly.
1790-91
Mexican artist Andrés López paints the
portrait of Don Matías de Galvez y
Gallardo as Vice Protector of the
Academy of San Carlos.
Slave revolt on the French island of SaintDominique (Haiti) that eventually leads to
1791-1804 its independence.
1793
All guilds are abolished in Quito.
The Colombian creole and military general
Antonio Nariño (1765-1823) translates into
Spanish the Declaration of the Rights of
1793 Man and of the Citizen.
Prussian explorer Alexander von Humboldt
(1769-1859) and French botanist Aimé
Bonpland (1773-1858) survey the territory
of Latin America collecting and classifying
1799-1804 thousands of plants unknown in Europe.
Napoleonic Wars. After declaring himself
Emperor, Napoleon led a series of
imperialist raids against various European
powers. The Wars ended with Napoleon’s
1803-1815 failed invasion of Russia in 1815.
Haiti gains its independence from France,
under the leadership of Toussaint
1804 L’Ouverture (1743-1803).
Napoleon self-proclaimed himself
emperor of France.
Portuguese royal family moves to Brazil to
1807-1821 escape Napoleon.
The French invade Spain and Napoleon’s
brother Joseph Bonaparte (1768-1844)
1808 seizes the Spanish throne.
First South American independence
1809 movement begins in Chuquisaca (Bolivia).
(September 16) Grito de Dolores Hidalgo.
The priest Miguel Hidalgo issues a cry for
1810 independence near Guanajuato - Mexico.
In Cuba, the Aponte Conspiracy is instigated
by the Afro-Cuban activist José Antonio
1812 Aponte (d. 1812).
Friedrich George Weitsch paints
Alexander von Humboldt and Aimé
Bonpland at the Foot of the
Chimborazo.
José Maria Morelos convokes the first
Mexican Congress, which formally declares
Mexican Independence. Slavery is also
1813 abolished.
Alexander von Humboldt and Aimé
Bonpland’s findings were published in
Views of the Mountain Ranges and
Monuments of the Indigenous Peoples
of America.
A series of civil wars facilitated the
temporary re-conquest of the United
1814-1816 Provinces of New Granada by Spain.
Mexican Revolutionary leader José Maria
Morelos (1765-1815) is defeated and
1815 executed.
Argentine General and Independence leader
José de San Martín (1778-1850) liberates
Argentina (1816), Chile (1818) and Peru
1816-1821 (1921).
1817
Construction of Mexico City’s
Metropolitan Cathedral ended with
Manuel Tolsa’s Neoclassical
contribution to the façade.
1818 Chile gains its independence from Spain.
Battle of Boyacá – Venezuelan military and
political leader Simon Bolívar initiates his
fight for independence with a series of
military victories and the expulsion of the
viceroy of Nueva Granada, Juan José
1819 Francisco de Sámano (1753-1821).
ca. 1820
The Republic of Gran Colombia (formerly
the Viceroyalty of New Granada) was
established at the Congress of Cúcuta.
During the congress, Simón Bolívar was
1821 elected president.
Colombian portraitist, Pedro José
Figueroa (1780-1838) paints Simón
Bolívar: The Liberator of Colombia.
Independence of Mexico and
Guatemala.
Don Pedro I – King of Portugal proclaims
Brazilian Independence and crowns himself
1822 Emperor.
A rebellion led by Antonio López de Santa
Anna (1794-1876) forces the abdication of
independence leader and dictator Agustín de
1823 Iturbide establishing the Mexican Republic.
Peruvian portraitist Gil de Castro
painted the Peruvian martyr of
independence, José Olaya (1782-1823).
With the last patriot victories against the
Spaniards, Simón Bolívar and Antonio José Founding of the Academia Imperial de
Bellas Artes in Brazil.
1824 de Sucre liberate Peru.
The French chemist Nicéphore Niépce
(1765–1833) produces the first photographic
negative and, the earliest surviving
1826 photographic image.
1825 Bolivia declares independence.
Simón Bolívar proclaims himself dictator
following the self-imposed exile of the
liberator of the Viceroyalty of La Plata, José
1828 Francisco de San Martín.
Juan Manuel Blanes documents the
Uruguayan war of independence from
Brazil in his historical painting titled
Oath of the Thirty-Three Orientals.
Democracy is established in Mexico with
the election of the first president, Guadalupe
1829 Victoria (1786–1843).
The Republic of Gran Colombia dissolves
due to internal political divisions between
conservatives and the liberals. In the
following years the countries of Colombia,
Venezuela, Ecuador and Panama, are
1830 established.
1831 Bolivia abolishes slavery.
Mexican artist Antonio Serrano paints
Portrait of Miguel Hidalgo.
The United Kingdom abolishes slavery
1833 within the British Empire.
1834
French painter Jean-Baptiste Debret
(1768-1848) published the Picturesque
and Historical Voyage of Brazil.
The State of Texas declares its
independence from Mexico and begins a
1836 war against the central government.
German artist Carl Nebel (1805-1855)
documented the people of the different
regions of Mexico in his publication
Most Interesting Part of Mexico.
United Provinces of Central America breaks
into five republics: Guatemala, El Salvador,
1838 Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica.
1841
Mexican-American War. The expansionist
ideals (Manifest Destiny) of U.S President
James K. Polk leads U.S armies to invade
Mexican territory after battles fought at Rio
1846-1848 Grande.
British draftsman Frederick
Catherwood (1799–1854) and
American writer John Lloyd Stephens
(1805–1852) publish the illustrated
Incidents of Travel in Central America,
Chiapas, and Yucatán. Their work
spurs interest in Maya ruins.
Spanish artist Edward Walhouse Mark
(1817-1895) paints the watercolor Plaza
Mayor, Bogotá.
The Caste War – The Maya rebel against
1847-1848 plantation owners in Yucatán, Mexico.
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo cedes
northern half of Mexico to the U.S after the
1848 - Mexican-American Wars.
ca. 1850
Agustín Codazzi leads the Comisión
Corográfica (Corographic Commission) - a
specialized expedition to survey the
1850-1859 different territories of Colombia.
1851
Costa Rica abolishes its army.
Colombian artist and Chronicler José
María Espinosa (1796-1883), who
served as a correspondent in General
Nariño’s Campaign of the South, paints
The Battle of Palo River.
Mexican artist Juan Cordero (18221884) paints Columbus Before the
Catholic Monarchs.
The Spanish-born sculptor Manuel
Vilar (1812-1860) sculpts The
Tlaxcalan General Tlahuicole Doing
Battle on the Gladiator’s Stone of
Sacrifice.
Peru, Argentina and Venezuela abolish
1854 slavery.
The Exposition Universelle is held in Paris
with the aim of displaying the social,
industrial, and cultural progress of France
1855 under Napoleon III.
A new and liberal Constitution is approved
in Mexico opposing the interests of the
1857 Church and Mexican conservatives.
Peruvian painter and politician José
Francisco Domingo Laso (1823-1869)
paints The Inhabitant of the Cordillera
of Peru.
Civil War breaks out in Mexico between the
liberals and conservatives, and Benito
1858-1861 Juárez (1806–1872) is elected president.
Francisco Oller moves to France where he
studies under Thomas Couture and Gustave
1858-1865 Courbet.
Charles Darwin published his book On the
Origin of the Species inspired by his trip
1859 through the Pacific coast of South America.
American Landscape painter Frederic
Edwin Church’s paints Heart of Andes.
The French Army, supported by Mexican
Conservatives, invades Mexico. The War of
the French Intervention (Maximilian Affair)
begins when Napoleon invades Mexico to
establish access to Latin American markets
and exploit natural resources to finance his
1862 empire.
1862–63 Cuba abolishes slave trade.
1863
Photographer Désiré Charnay's (1828–
1915) publishes his photo album Cités
et Ruines Américaines, based on his
expedition in 1857.
The Salon des Refusés is established in
Paris to exhibit works rejected by the
jury of the French Salon.
The French Army and Mexican
Conservatives establish the Second Mexican
Empire, crowning the Austrian archduke
Maximilian von Hapsburg emperor of
1864 Mexico.
The U.S. abolishes slavery with the
Thirteenth Amendment to the United States
1865 Constitution.
The Mexican liberal army executes Emperor
Maximilian I. Benito Juárez reestablishes
1867 the Republic.
Ten Years’ War - The fight for Cuban
independence began with the cry of Yara,
and an uprising led by Cuban-born planters
and other wealthy natives including sugar
mill owner Carlos Manuel de Céspedes
1868-1878 (1819-1874).
The Académie Julian in Paris is
founded by Rodolphe Julian. The
Académie was a private studio school
where independent training in the arts
was offered.
1869
Mexican Costumbrista artist José María
Obregón (1832-1902) paints El
Descubrimiento del Pulque.
Bananas are introduced as a cash crop to
Costa Rica, and soon the fruit expands
1870s across Central and South America.
Death of Benito Juárez. Sebastián Lerdo de
Tejada (1823-1889) becomes President of
1872 Mexico.
Porfirio Díaz overthrows Lerdo de Tejada
and becomes President in Mexico. He will
reelect himself seven times, and his
dictatorship, the "Porfiriato," lasts thirty1876 four years (1876-1911).
1877
Mexican costumbrista painter Félix
Parra (1845-1919) paints Episodes of
the Conquest: Massacre of Cholula.
War of the Pacific – Armed despite between
1879-84 Chile, Peru and Bolivia over territory.
1880
1885
Colombian portraitist Epifanio Garay
(1849-1903) immortalizes the
revolutionary martyr, Policarpa
Salavarrieta (Colombian, 1795-1817) in
a portrait of the heroine.
Mexican landscape painter José María
Velasco (1840-1912) creates Atlas
Pintoresco e Historico de los Estados
Unidos Mexicanos (Picturesque
Historical Atlas of the United States of
Mexico).
1886 Cuba abolishes slavery for all.
1888 Abolition of slavery in Brazil.
Brazil is proclaimed a republic with the
1889 abdication of Emperor Don Pedro II.
Mexican illustrator José Guadalupe
Posada (1852–1913) opens his first
print shop in Mexico City to illustrate
and publish newspapers and
broadsheets.
The Exposition Universelle is held in
Paris. The Eiffel Tower, designed by
Gustave Eiffel (1832–1923) is erected
for the centennial celebration of the
French Revolution.
Political activist and literati José Julián
Martí Pérez (1853-1895) and Major General
Máximo Gómez y Báez (1836-1905) write
the Montecristi Manifesto where they laid
out the arguments that inspired the
Revolutionary Party in Cuba to pursue their
1895 Independence from Spain.
The Italian ethnologist Guido Boggiani
(1861–1902) explores the indigenous people
of the Gran Chaco (parts of Paraguay,
1896-1901 Argentina, Bolivia and Brazil).
Spanish-Cuban-American War ends with
the signing of the Treaty of Paris, through
which Cuba gains its independence and
Puerto Rico becomes a territory of the
1898 United States.
1899
Venezuelan academic artist Francisco
Arturo Michelena Castillo (1863-1898)
paints Miranda in La Carraca.
The Brazilian Realist artist José Ferraz
de Almeida Júnior (1850-1899) paints
The Guitar Player.
The Foraker Act establishes civil
government in Puerto Rico and allows for
free trade between the island and the United
1900 States.
The Republic of Panama declares its
independence from Colombia with the
1903 backing of the United States and France.
1907
1910
Colombian Impressionist artist Andrés
de Santa Maria (1860-1945) paints
Return from the Market.
Exposición Internacional del
Centenario in Buenos Aires, Argentina.